Hitman Contracts: The Players

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Who's who in this bizarre menagerie of freaks, assassins and killers. We'll tell you, but we'll kill you.

By Douglass C. Perry

What exactly is Hitman Contracts? And who is this mysterious Agent 47? We'll tell you but be very, very quiet about it. He's an example of what you'll be saying to yourself when you pick up the controller and play IO's newest stealth-action game. I don't think he can hear me. I know he doesn't see me. I could use his clothes. I could use that box of food to get inside the building. He's a casualty. Poor guy doesn't even know it. Probably has a girlfriend or a wife. Maybe some kids. But they're irrelevant. His back is turned, time to move. Careful now. Quietly. Die quickly. Give me the gift of your clothes. No blood, no mess, no problem. Now for your boss...

If you've played either of the first two Hitman games, you'll assuredly be familiar with this line of thinking. What you do in the game is highly questionable as far as morality is concerned. Killing men and women for money isn't the highest calling for a decent human being. But nobody said that 47 is a decent human being. Human may even be a dubious distinction for our big bald anti-hero. Not only does he possess the ability to push whatever qualms he might have about murdering people into the back of his head, but he also is enhanced. Born from a lab into the shell that he inhabits with a blurry history, 47 wasn't the last of his kind.

He found this out for himself rather abruptly and painfully at the end of the first title in the series, Hitman: Codename 47. That is where this next game picks up... sort of. The missions themselves are actually flashbacks into 47's past. The game begins with a cutscene of 47 being shot in a hotel room only to blend into the first mission set at the end of the first game in a very cool dreamlike transition. While the Hitman series in the past has always had a small undercurrent of melancholy and bleakness, it has been set in a bright world full of color.

Hitman: Contracts is turning off the lights and showing you how dark the darkness really can be. Everything from the cutscenes to the settings in game will show this newfound harshness off with fervor. It's clear that IO Interactive, a development squad quickly climbing up my list of studios to watch, had it in mind to really delve into the underbelly of society and dredge up some unsavory characters.

Today's we're here to bring you a healthy list of the Hitman characters.

Meat King

Obese, obscene, wealthy and powerful, the Meat King is the cold beating heart of the Slaughterhouse. Freed without conviction from a kidnapping charge, not everyone is convinced of his gloating innocence.

Meat King's Brother

Rarely seen in public, the sibling of the Meat king resides in the Slaughterhouse with a collection of knives and homemade relics. His strange behavior raises questions about his sanity, as does his fondness for wearing no trousers, grubby pants and wielding a meat cleaver.

Russian Chief

The one good egg in a box of rotten ones, the Russian Chief is your key to success in Siberia as he holds the information needed to bring down the Dirty Bomb manufacturing plant. He stays alive at all costs.

Fritz Fuchs

The Fuchs family has their dirty fingers in some even dirtier pies, and Fritz is at the hub. He has hatched plans to detonate a potentially catastrophic bomb with brother Franz. Both must be eliminated immediately.

The Beldingfords

How the other half live! The filthy rich Beldingfords obviously feel that they're above the law, as the man you're sent to rescue will testify. The elder Beldingford on your hit list may be prone to a drop of whiskey, but his hunting skills are as sharp as ever.

Lee Hong - Triad Leader

The Red Dragon Triads are a huge organized-crime outfit and Lee Hong is the head. His allies must be eliminated and his enemies turned against him before the hit on the main man can be carried out.

Biker President

Crime has paid for the Biker President so don't be fooled by the exterior of his hideout, inside, his plush suite accommodates a Jacuzzi, Plasma TV and other luxury furniture. With the local police chief on his books, he is a powerful man with many connections. But his time is running out...

And that's really just the beginning. We'll have more on IO's spectacular game in the very, very near future, so stick around.